


Strange Animal Arts

by blythechild



Series: The Otter One [4]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anthropomorphic, F/M, Family Dynamics, Family Feels, Fluff, Mischief, Otters, Parent-Child Relationship, Sibling Rivalry, Silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-01
Updated: 2017-09-01
Packaged: 2018-12-22 15:03:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11969856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blythechild/pseuds/blythechild
Summary: Emily and Spencer's children are never quiet unless they're up to no good.This is a work of fanfiction and as such I do not claim ownership over the characters herein. It was created as a personal amusement. This story is suitable for all readers.





	Strange Animal Arts

Nothing could either make or break Emily’s day like the sound of her pups’ giggling. It could mean that they were being impossibly, inconceivably adorable. Or it could mean that they were taunting something bigger into eating them, or about to risk their furry necks for fun, or in imminent danger of doing something horrible to each other. So often the giggling meant near-doom for all of them. Emily could hear it as she climbed the sunny rocks with the fish she’d caught for lunch.

“Fargin’ bastages,” she mumbled through dead fish. “Vot ‘ave vew two done vow?”

As she reached the summit, the view was almost prosaic. Spencer was stretched out, sunning himself, with Benji and Scout huddled close. She had a brief moment of soft, motherly hope. Then, she looked closer.

“What’s going on here?” she said after ‘pew-ing’ lunch down. The pups jumped as if electrocuted, which was a sure sign that they were up to no good.

“Nuffing,” they chirped in unison and looked guilty.

She glanced down at Spencer, who wasn’t sunning himself, but rather fast asleep, paws splayed and mouth open as he snored softly. The moment of brief happiness flared brightly in her again until her eyes drifted down to his belly. In the thick, glossy fur there was a crudely-outlined battle between what looked to be an alligator and Rossi. She bent closer and squinted.

“What the…”

The cartoon figures were rising and falling as Spencer slept, unaware that a pitched skirmish was being played out across his tummy.

“How did you do that?”

Benji stepped forward, back suddenly straight with pride, eager to show off to his Mom. “Like this…” He drifted a paw gently through the scene, ruffling the fur in a new line, and then Scout let out a cry and shoved him away.

“No, Benji!”

“Hey!”

“Enough, you hooligans. One at a time. And be quiet – Daddy’s sleeping.”

They both looked chastened for a split second – which was as long as their contrition ever lasted – and then Scout puffed up to explain their process. Throughout all of this, Spencer continued to snore. Emily envied his ability to sleep so easily around such loud offspring.

“Mommy, look. See?” 

Scout broadly patted her Dad’s stomach and the fur aligned in a single direction, erasing the Rossi conflict like magic. Then she held up her paw to show it to everyone, and dragged it slowly across his belly so that a line of fur went against the grain and caught the sunlight in a lighter gold. Scout painstakingly worked lines into her father’s fur, rubbing it back when she made a mistake, until she’d created a new drawing, this time of a flying fish. She managed a surprising amount of detail using just fur and a single, tiny paw. Emily was… impressed.

“That’s… very creative, sweety.” Emily patted Scout on her head and she could’ve sworn that the kid grew half an inch as she did it. And there was grateful purring. Benji, never one to be outdone, shouldered in front of his sister and patted away her drawing.

“Hey!” Scout squealed.

“My turn!” Benji grumbled.

“Let him show me as well, Scout,” Emily tried to forestall a pup tantrum with a cuddle. “Benji, _gently…_ ”

Benji nodded seriously and then poked his tongue out sideways as his furry face wrinkled in concentration. It was so much like Spencer when he was focusing, that Emily’s heart skipped around randomly at the sight. Benji’s attempt wasn’t as precise as Scout’s was, nor was it as peaceful; it was clearly a baby otter throttling another baby otter.

“Benji…” Emily growled, but Benji just looked up at her with anticipation of being congratulated as his sister had been. Scout hissed at her brother and bared her tiny fangs – Benji would pay for this down the road.

“Bad Benji,” Scout huffed.

“Ummm…” Emily tried not to play favorites with her pups. She gave Benji a head pat as well, though a less enthusiastic one. “Nice work. But perhaps we could stop illustrating murder on Daddy’s tum-tum, okay?”

Benji pouted a little. It was becoming obvious that the idea for the Rossi battle had been his, but Scout had been the artist. Basically, it was one of the few times her kids worked together on something, and she didn’t want to ruin it. One day these little buggers would come to love one another. Well, a mother could _hope_ for that, any way…

An idea came to her. She folded her paws in front of her and crouched down to Benji and Scout’s level. She gave them an optimistic look.

“Would you teach me how? Both of you…”

They grinned huge, fangy smiles and nodded so enthusiastically that they bumped into each other. _They are so much like him_ , she thought wistfully. Then she turned to her son.

“What shall I draw, Benj?”

His face filled with furry wrinkles as he considered the possibilities. “A shark?”

She nodded. “Okay, a shark. Just so long as he’s not eating your sister.” She turned to Scout. “Help me draw it, okay, sweety?”

Scout nodded and wrapped her tiny paw around Emily’s as they both gently erased Benji’s fratricide. Then they began to draw together as Benji leaned in to watch. Spencer snuffled and squirmed under their paws, but never woke up, his snores just getting louder and more complex. He was a ridiculous otter and a remarkable sleeper.

It wasn’t long before the giggling started up again, but this time, Emily joined in with her two hooligans.

\----- 

Despite what Emily believed, Spencer wasn’t asleep and never had been. As if he could nod off around such noisy, disaster-prone pups. He would never hear the end of it if he did. But he recognized that playing the unsuspecting victim encouraged his young to stay close and focus on him rather than a sea lion or a fishing boat or a whale. So, he was fine with being the butt of their pranks if it kept them safe and content. And the giggling was great; it was really hard to keep a straight face through it all. Then there was the tummy tickling.

And then there was the _Emily_ tummy tickling, which produced sensations equally hard to ignore, but far less family-friendly. He’d shine it on for now and pay her back for it with some otter tussling later, out of their pups’ sight. He grinned as he thought about it and then quickly stopped when he realized he was giving himself away. He cracked an eyelid to see if anyone noticed, but they were all bent over his stomach with matching looks of concentration and mischief. _They are so much like her_ , he thought warmly, and then shut his eye again, rattling out an enormous snore for dramatic effect.

**Author's Note:**

> This installment happened because Deejaymil sent me a video of someone drawing on an otter. FOR REALZ. Who knew otters slept that soundly?


End file.
